Texans Concerned Over Potential Chemical Leakage from Solar Farm Damaged in Hailstorm

solar panel
Jordan Vonderhaar/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Olivia Rondeau

A hail storm that devastated a Texas solar farm has sparked concern within the surrounding community and among energy experts, who are questioning if “green” energy is really that safe.

The March 15 storm shattered “hundreds of panels” at the Fighting Jays Solar farm in Fort Bend County, Fox News reported. 

Aviator Ryan Ashcraft captured aerial footage showing the baffling extent of the damages.

Resident Nick Kaminski expressed worry about the broken solar panels potentially leaking harmful chemicals, such as cadmium telluride, a semiconducting material commonly used in panels that can cause “major health problems in inhalation and ingestion,” according to an iCliniq medical report.

“My concern is, with the hail damage that came through and busted these panels up, we now have some highly toxic chemicals that could be potentially leaking into our water tables,” Kaminski, of Needville, told KRIV-TV. 

“I have a family — two children and a wife. My neighbors have kids, and a lot of other residents in the area who are on well water are concerned that the chemicals are now leaking into our water tables,” he added.

Needville Mayor Chas Nesvadba told Fox News that the Fort Bend County Environmental Health Department is investigating the incident and that the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has been contacted regarding the potential health risks.

Rep. Troy Nehls (R-TX), who represents the community around the solar farm, has been engaged with local property owners who were also impacted by the hailstorm and could be affected by chemical leakage.

According to his spokesperson, Emily Matthews, Nehls supports an “all-of-the-above” energy approach rather than relying strictly on solar because of instances like this.

“As far as solar farms being damaged where hail and tornadoes are common, those companies knowingly run the risk of building solar panel farms in these areas,” Matthews told Fox News. “Events like this underscore the importance of having an all-of-the-above energy approach to meet our energy needs and showcase how our country cannot solely rely on or fully transition to renewable energy sources like this.”

According to the Denmark-based parent company of the developer for the Fighting Jays Solar project, there is no health risk for community members.

Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, which owns developer AP Solar Holdings, released a statement, saying that “the silicon-based panels contain no cadmium telluride and we have identified no risk to the local community or the environment.”

It confirmed that the storm destroyed many of its panels but said the company is still “assessing the extent of the impact of the storm on the generation of the project, while the plant continues to safely operate at a reduced capacity.”

Even without chemical leakage, experts are still pointing out other risks associated with such forms of energy.

Daniel Turner, executive director of energy watchdog group Power the Future, highlighted the hail damage as an example of what could happen on a much larger scale if the country is forced into “green” energy.

“There’s this enormous shell game happening by the Biden administration, by the environmental left, presenting wind and solar as perfectly green, clean, and carbon-neutral,” Turner told the outlet. “They use all of these buzzwords. But they’re none of that and they also have enormous drawbacks. And it’s doing the American people a great disservice to obfuscate these very obvious shortcomings.”

He also pointed out that solar panels largely come from China. 

“Why would we expect them to race to our aid when our grid is down nationwide, and they are the ones holding the goods that we need to get back up?” he posed.

“Green energy is the future… in a world with no hail,” he remarked on X.

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